


Soulmates AU

by justalonelyfangirl



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Bittersweet, Bittersweet Ending, Minor Character Death, Platonic Soulmates, Romantic Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-23
Updated: 2017-02-23
Packaged: 2018-09-26 13:18:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9898880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justalonelyfangirl/pseuds/justalonelyfangirl
Summary: Soulmate AU: Most people are born with the name of their soulmates on their left wrist. Some people are born with no names and some people are born with multiple.BAU characters and their experiences with their soulmarks.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I suddenly got inspiration for this and couldn't stop writing it! I really hope you enjoy it!  
> Feedback/Advice is welcome!

No one knew why. Why when a child was born a name appeared on their left wrist. A name of the person that was perfect for you – a soulmate. No one knew why some people had multiple names and yet some had none. Why they turned red once your Soulmate died and faded slightly once you met them. No one knew why but most people spent their lives searching for them. 

David Rossi knew he didn’t need to find his soulmate to be happy, even if his mother was obsessed with idea of finding her. He worked and he enjoyed it. He never wanted to get his hopes up at finding her because people died everyday and he knew that there was no guarantee he’d find this ‘Carolyn’. He could love other people. He loved his work, he loved Emma for a while but she’d found her soulmate and then maybe he did need to find this woman? But he wasn’t going to look for her and it turned out he didn’t need to because they met anyway. It wasn’t long before he realised he’d fallen in love with her. His mother had been over the moon – especially when they announced they were getting married. Life went on: David went to work and they were happy, ecstatic when they found out they were having a baby. But then ‘James David Rossi’ had died and everything had changed. They were in pain and David threw himself into his work and it eventually ended. But they were soulmates and so they promised each other they’d always be there for one another and when Carolyn returned years later and Dave held her as she died, he felt his wrist burn as the words faded to red. 

Aaron was 12 when his wrist burnt and the words turned red. He ran downstairs to show his parents who gave him a pitying look and explained what it meant. Aaron had frowned confused at the thought of never finding his love after how much everyone at school went on about it. When others had started to notice his wrist they gave him sad looks and eventually Aaron brought a watch to cover the words. When he started high school he heard the rumours about the girl with red words on her wrist. It wasn’t until a year later he finally got to meet her. ‘Haley’ she was called, the red words on her wrist showing off to the world to see. “Why don’t you cover your wrist?” He’d managed to ask once they’d become friends. She’d responded simply “I’ve got nothing to be ashamed about, why should I hide his name?” Aaron had nodded and revealed his wrist to her. They’d started dating soon after and they’d been happy for awhile but Aaron enjoyed work and they’d both felt like something was missing and filling that with Jack didn’t help. When Haley died, although his wrist didn’t burn red, his heart did break and he thought that maybe there hadn’t been anything missing after all.

When Emily was 5 she asked her father why she had two names on her wrist. Her father said she was lucky that she had two people in the world that she was meant to be with. Her mother had rolled her eyes and walked out the room. When Emily was 8 her parents gave her a bracelet to cover up her marks. “Some people aren’t as accepting as we are” Her father explained as her mother snorted in barely disguised disgust “Because there’s 2?” Emily asked confused. “Because one’s a girl’s name” Her mother had said before leaving the room. It wasn’t until Emily was 11, and they’d moved to a new country and one of the other kids saw her marks and said disgusting things about her having a girl’s name on her wrist, that she finally understood – They didn’t stay there long and Emily made sure to keep her wrist covered. When Emily was given the Ian Doyle assignment she barely thinks about the names on her wrist. It’s not until she meets him for the first time and she feels her wrist tingle that she knows that the ‘Ian’ that’s been on her wrist her whole life is currently sitting right in front of her “Lauren?” Emily nods, not sure whether to laugh or cry that the fake name she’s been given just happens to be the one on his wrist. She tells herself that she’s not going to love him, that he’s a criminal and it’s wrong. She does end up loving him though and she thinks maybe she’d to prefer to have no soulmates at all. Years later, after joining the BAU and Jane asks her If it’s wrong to love Frank the only thing she can think to say is “You don’t choose who you fall in love with” Because how could she say anything else one of her soulmates is an IRA terrorist. When Ian escapes prison and captures her, he asks her “Did you ever find the woman on your wrist?” Emily responds with No, because it’s true. What she doesn’t tell him is that she’s avoided every person with the name and is terrified to find out who this woman is because she doesn’t know what she’d do if both the people she’s destined to be with are criminals... what does that say about her? When she watches the life drain out of Ian’s eyes, she almost doesn’t feel the pain in her wrist, as she’s pretty sure her heart just broke all over again. She tells herself that’s she better off never meeting the other woman on her wrist.

Spencer likes the name on his wrist. It’s unusual. His mother never shows him her wrist, it’s hidden by an old bracelet, but she always reads him books about them – people’s stories of finding their soulmates, the research people had done on why soulmarks existed and why some people don’t have them. Spencer fascinated by all the information he can find and he researches the name ‘Maeve’ as well. He finds out its Irish and that it means "she who intoxicates”. He’s consumed by the idea that there’s somewhere out there who he’s meant for. Whenever he starts a new school he searches the list of students to try and find the name on his wrist but it never shows and then he’s with people who are years older than him and he’s picked on and doesn’t fit in and he’s too smart and maybe it’s a lie? Maybe he’s never going to meet this girl because will she think he’s weird too? But then he meets her when he’s 31. He didn’t know straight away because she was just ‘Dr. Donovan’ but after a few weeks of talking she says ‘You can call me Maeve if you want” and Spencer feels his heart fly because maybe he’s finally found her. But the world is cruel and when his wrist finally fades she’s sitting in front of him and there’s a gun trained on her head and he tries so hard to convince Diane that Maeve isn’t his soul mate and he loves Diane but she knows. See’s Maeve’s gasp as she feels her own wrist tingle and Diane pulls at Maeve sleeve to reveal the faded word ‘Spencer’ and he can’t hold back his awe because all he’s ever wanted was to see that someone could be his soulmate and then there’s a bullet through both Diane’s and Maeve’s head and he doesn’t feel his wrist burn at all because he can hardly breathe because he’d been so close.

Derek didn’t realise soulmarks were even a real thing until he was 6 and a kid had asked him where his ‘mark’ was. He frowned at them as the kid had taken off the band around his wrist to reveal the girls name written there. He’d gone home and asked his parents why he didn’t have one and they’d said, with sad gazes, that they didn’t know, that some people just didn’t have soulmarks. The next time he even thought about them was when his father died and he noticed his father’s name had turned red on his mother’s wrist, he’d asked his sister and she’d explained. When he met Carl Buford he showed Derek his blank wrist and said “Soulmates aren’t important” and Derek had believed him. He became the ‘ladies man’ because he didn’t have any woman he needed to look for specifically and he didn’t think of it until he reached the BAU and Spencer asked him one afternoon why he wasn’t looking for his soulmate? Derek had shown him his blank wrist before walking away and neither of them spoke of it again. It wasn’t until he met Savannah that he thought maybe things could be different. Her soulmark was faded and she’d explained that the woman’s name on her wrist was her best friend. He’d got along with her well because she was different and she understood his job and he understood hers which was a rare thing to find so they eventually get married because they are happy and he’s over the moon when he gets to tell the team that he’s going to be a father because maybe his son will have a soulmark and if not he can tell him he doesn’t need one to be happy. 

JJ’s mother had constantly gone on about her soulmark and she’d never understood why. Why only hers and never Rosaline’s. Her sister kept her wrist’s hidden with thick bracelets and young JJ just assumed she didn’t want people to see the name, because that’s what some of the other kids at school did too. It wasn’t until she was 14 and she asked her mother why they never spoke about the name on Rosaline’s wrist that she was told Rosaline didn’t have a name. She’d been confused because everyone had names didn’t they? Her mother explained the whole concept of soulmarks and even showed JJ hers. It was her father’s name but in red. “So you only have one person in the whole world that you’re meant to be with?” JJ had asked and her mother had explained that some people had more than one but most people, yes, they just had one. That night, JJ ran her fingers over the letters on her arm that read “William” and she wondered who he could be. She already knew a lot of William’s. The girls at school would talk about their soulmarks a lot and how romantic finding their soulmates would be but JJ was never fussed. Instead she tried her hardest to study and eventually made her way to the BAU. When she finally ran into William LaMontagne Jr. she felt her wrist tingle and she saw he felt his too. She avoided him for the majority of the trip in New Orleans trying to keep herself busy with the case. It wasn’t until the night before they were due to leave that he finally confronted her “Aren’t we going to talk about the fact we’re soulmates” He’d said and JJ had simply gone “I don’t know what you’re talking about” before trying to leave. Will grabbed her wrist turning it over to reveal the faded name. He’d just hummed and given her his number “For whenever you are ready”. It hadn’t been long before she’d contacted him because he did seem nice and eventually she fell pregnant with Henry and then a few years later Michael and maybe this wasn’t so bad after all? 

Penelope had noticed the other children had names on their wrists when she was 5 and she’d been so confused because why didn’t she? When she’d gotten home she’d asked her parents and they’d explained that she was different and some people just didn’t have them. They avoided details so it wasn’t until a few years later when they spoke about soulmates/marks at school that she understood what it actually meant. She came home crying and her parents had tried to make her believe that she didn’t need a name, that she would find someone still and that the names didn’t mean anything at all and Penelope believed them again – she noticed a few months later that they both had each other’s names on their wrist and maybe it was important. Penelope instead focused on her studies and kept her blank wrist covered and whenever anyone asked her the name underneath she’d make it up because she didn’t want to be different. When her parents died she wondered if all soulmates died together but she soon learned they didn’t and maybe it was better that she didn’t have one to begin with. She joins the BAU and she surrounds herself with happy things, tries to keep the bubbly, positive, sparkly attitude because she’s happy alone and Derek once showed her his wrist and Penelope had been overcome with joy because some people were like her. So, she’s fine and she sometimes dates but she’s happy with work and her family. But then she meets Kevin and that’s fun for awhile because he’s nice but then he eventually asks her to marry him and Penelope can’t do that, especially not when he has someone else’s name on his wrist and he may say he doesn’t need to find his soulmate but Penelope knows he does because if she was in his position she’d want to find them too.

No one knew why soulmarks existed. Most people you find would tell you that soulmarks were a curse, how desperate everyone in the world was to find their soulmates, how people devoted their lives to find this one person. A few people in the world, the ones born with no names, would tell you how they’d grown up alienated and feeling like they’d never have someone to love and the people with multiple names would tell you about having to pick between the people on their wrist and constantly thinking what if I’ve made the wrong choice. Some people would say soulmarks were amazing about how they were happily married to the person on their wrist. Even though lots of people hated their soulmarks, they told their children that this mark on their wrist was important, so it became the norm and when another child was born with no mark, or multiple marks or felt their wrist go red before they ever got a chance to meet them, they’d feel like they’d failed because they’d always been told “You’ll find them someday, and you’ll be happy”. 

So, does that mean they’ll never be happy now? 

They’d hope not.


End file.
